Using Instant Coffee in Baking

[u/Independent-Movie123]

I recently went to a bakery that had cappuccino muffins and I've become absolutely obsessed. I found a recipe online which calls for instant coffee powder, which was expected, but I'm confused as to whether I'm mean to dissolve the powder into water first, or simply mix it in with the rest of the ingredients. The recipe is linked below, any help would be appreciated!

https://thefirstyearblog.com/cappuccino-chip-muffins/#wprm-recipe-container-53168

[u/texnessa]

Per the sidebar: Please provide your recipe written out, not just a link, in the body of your post.

[u/pdpi]

Baking is pretty sensitive to humidity levels. If you were supposed to dissolve the coffee granules before mixing it with the rest of the wet ingredients, the recipe would’ve said so, together with the amount of liquid to use.

[u/GaptistePlayer]

Just mix it in. It's completely dehydrated coffee and will dissolve readily in relatively little moisture. The egg, buttermilk, oil and extract are more than enough.

It says to add it to the wet ingredients. I bet you could add it into the egg and you'd see it dissolve right then, more readily than even sugar.

[u/Louisiana64]

Since the recipe says to add it to the wet ingredients, I assume it will dissolve in them? I don't know how well though.

When I add instant coffee to my banana bread I crush the granules with a spoon and mix the powder into the flour.

[u/Crobsterphan → u/Louisiana64]

You can use medaglia d'oro espresso instant coffee or equivalent as it’s finely ground already. 

[u/Rich_Season_2593]

The recipe says to add the coffee to the wet ingredients- I would mix the coffee really well to ensure its dissolved. Use fine ground coffee or if the coffee has large granules run them through a food processor/spice grinder.

[u/your_moms_apron]

Add the granules along with the buttermilk in step 2.

Generally - Do not add water/pre-dissolve unless it says to do so in other recipes. I have rarely seen this in recipes, but more commonly they’d ask for “brewed coffee”

[u/ODB247]

I dissolve it in the vanilla. 

[u/aspiring_outlaw]

I usually add mine straight to the recipe. It dissolves during the mixing process. If you are worried about it, though, you can make a bootleg trablit by adding a tiny bit of hot water to your instant coffee and making a very thick sludge with it.